Coin Toss
by MadBangel
Summary: "Our life is one big proverbial coin toss." What if the toss had gone the other way? An alternative 3x22.
1. As in Savior

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Vampire Diaries. I also did not write any lines of dialogue taken verbatim from 3x22 'The Departed'.

**Author's Note:** In this fic, Damon and Stefan swap places for the finale. Stefan goes with Klaus' body and fights Evil Ric, and Damon returns to Mystic Falls (although he arrives later than Stefan did). Everything else goes as it did in the episode.

* * *

Damon had only just made it back to town when Elena rang him to break his heart yet again. She was on her way back after being kidnapped by the busboy. Not to see him, of course, but to see her friends. If he was going to die, he supposed he should be glad she would be there, even if in her heart she was wishing she was with Stefan.

His phone rang and when Rebekah's name came up on the screen, he groaned. Could this night get any worse?

"You're alive. Congratulations," she said sarcastically. "Elijah spoke to Elena. Her and Matt should be arriving back in town any minute."

"Aren't you two supposed to be long gone by now?" Damon snapped in irritation.

"That's the problem. Elijah says that we have to run, that the hunter will keep coming after us, but I don't want to run anymore, Damon."

"Oh no. No you goddamn don't," Damon said, realising what the little blonde bitch was saying.

"I spent my whole life running," she said, tears in her voice.

"We had a deal!"

"I'm sorry. But Klaus is dead. If my brothers and I are to survive we need to get rid of Alaric. And the only way to do that is..." she didn't need to finish the sentence. The phone call terminated, and Damon rushed like holy hell down to the only road that led into Mystic Falls.

Just in time to see Matt's jeep fly off Wickery Bridge and sink into the cold, dark waters below.

"Elena!"

* * *

Drowning. She was drowning. Again. Elena began to panic as memories of last time she was in this situation began to overwhelm her.

"_Dad? Dad!" she cried as the water rose steadily around them._

"_We're going to be okay, I promise," he told her. _

It had been a lie. He had died, and she would have too if it hadn't been for Stefan. But Stefan was so far away now. She would never get to say goodbye to him, never be able to tell him that he was her choice and that she loved him.

Suddenly Damon loomed large in her field of vision, swimming right outside the truck. It was getting hard to breathe now and Elena was ecstatic to see him. But Matt was unconscious, and horror filled her as she realised there was no way Damon would take him first. He was already swimming around to her side of the truck.

She tried desperately to gesture to Matt, but Damon ignored her, ripping the door off the truck, and tearing her seatbelt off, just like the last time he had saved her from a car accident.

She tried to struggle but he just grabbed her and firmly hauled her with him towards the surface. There were little spots dancing in front of her eyes now and she knew she was about to pass out. But then they broke the surface and air rushed into her lungs again. She gasped and choked, and Damon hit her gently on the back, helping her expel the water from her lungs.

She glared at him, and tried to struggle again, but he restrained her and fixed her with his most sociopathic look.

"Don't even think about it. You are going to swim to shore and not look back for a second or I swear to God I will leave him down there. Do you understand?"

She huffed, and nodded, and he let her go. She started swimming towards the shore, heartened by the sound of the splash behind her that meant Damon was going after Matt. She would never forgive herself if he was too late.

* * *

Damon dove down into the icy depths again, looking for the boy in the truck. It was a fool's errand, as he was probably already dead, but he would do it for Elena.

The boy was dead weight as Damon dragged him up to the surface, and when they broke it, he hit the quarterback as hard as he could, not bothering with the gentleness he'd shown Elena.

There was no response, and Damon sighed. She was going to hate him now. Not that that was anything new.

He hit the boy again, and felt for a pulse, but didn't find anything. He looked around for Elena, trying to see if she had made it to shore yet. He couldn't see her, and he dragged the boy's corpse with him as he headed for shore.

Halfway there, he still couldn't see Elena, but Matt was making choking noises behind him. He slowed up and thumped him on the back again.

"Elena," he managed to get out.

"I told her to swim for shore, but I can't see her," Damon told him, seriously pissed off that she might have disobeyed his instructions and gotten herself into trouble.

"Elena!" the boy cried insistently, and Damon spun around in the water and saw her. Floating. Motionless.

He dropped the boy in an instant and rushed for her, praying he wasn't too late.

"Elena!" he yelled, grabbing her. She was so cold, and he couldn't hear a heartbeat. No. Oh God, no.

"Elena!" he called, dragging her to shore, shaking her, trying to revive her. He dragged her up onto the bank, dimly aware of the quarterback coming up behind him.

"Get out of the way," Matt ordered. "I was a lifeguard, I know CPR."

Damon was not happy at being ordered away from his love, but if the boy could save her he wouldn't argue. It was the longest wait of his undead life as he watched him perform the rhythmic compressions on her.

"Come on, Elena," Matt muttered, pressing furiously.

Damon bit his wrist and held it over her mouth, willing her to live.

"Elena!" Damon urged her. "Elena, please. Come back to me," he pleaded. He held her limp wrist in his hands, willing her skin to throb with the pulse that would mean she would live.

Nothing.

Matt worked furiously, and Damon was beginning to lose all hope when he felt it. Faint, but there.

"She's alive!" he called to Matt, who renewed his efforts. A moment later she started coughing and spluttering, and Matt rolled her into the recovery position.

Damon and Matt both breathed a collective sigh of relief. Elena shivered, and Damon vampire sped over to the spot where he had left his leather jacket, and zoomed back to wrap her in it.

He bundled her up and shoved her into Matt's arms. He hated it, but the boy had body heat and could warm her in a way that he couldn't.

Damon went to get his car to take her home. One crisis down, hopefully. Now he had to call Stefan to see if his brother had survived Evil Ric's rampage.

* * *

Stefan was waiting when they got Elena back to the house.

"Where is she?" demanded Stefan, racing up to the car.

"She's fine," Damon snapped wearily, and he opened the passenger door for Elena, ready to support her if she needed it. She glared at him and got out under her own steam, rushing into Stefan's arms.

"But you died," Stefan said, pulling back and holding her face, scanning it for any sign of trouble.

"Yeah, she did. For a moment," Damon said. "Fortunately the busboy knows CPR."

Stefan hugged Elena and she hugged him back happily, feeling better than she had in a long time now that she was in his arms again.

"What happened to you?" Damon asked his brother, after they had Elena safely inside.

"I thought I was a goner. He was going to kill me," Stefan told him. "Then he stopped and started choking. He collapsed and went grey in my arms. And then I knew Elena had died," he said, a troubled expression coming over his face again.

"Mmm. All's well that ends well, brother," Damon told him, suddenly dying for some bourbon. He'd have a toast to Ric, who was finally free of the evil asshole who had taken over his body. Damon hoped his old friend was at peace now.

"She chose you, by the way," Damon told Stefan's back as his brother was leaving the room. Stefan whipped around and frowned.

"What?"

"When she thought you and I were both dead men we had an interesting little conversation. I asked her to choose, and she chose you, brother."

Stefan nodded slowly. "I'm sorry," he told his older brother genuinely.

Damon raised an eyebrow in acknowledgment and took a sip of Ric's bourbon stash.

"Fair's fair. I'll hit the road first thing in the morning," he said, and Stefan nodded. He turned again and left the room, heading upstairs to see Elena.

Damon just sat in the low light of the kitchen and drank, counting on the slow burn of the bourbon to dull the ache in his chest.

It was worth it, he decided. She was alive, and she would be happy with his brother. He would leave with a broken heart but no regrets.

* * *

Somewhere in the deep of night, little things change, unnoticed, until the morning light reveals them.

Caroline was the first person who woke that morning, chirpy as always. Once the girls were all awake she went in to wake the boys.

And realised that she couldn't hear Matt's heartbeat anymore.


	2. Just Another Word For

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Vampire Diaries. If I did, it would all be about Damon.

**Author's Note:** So, we all know that I am notorious for my long fanfictions (ha ha). This is going to be an actual multi-part story. It is not a one-shot. Keep reading, people.

* * *

Meredith Fell told them that Matt's heart had given out, most likely due to some existing weakness that had been exacerbated by the strain of nearly drowning.

"He was down there too long. I'm sorry," she finished.

The girls were with his body, crying and comforting each other, while Damon leaned up against the hospital wall and thought about how screwed he was.

He tried to catch her eye when she left the room, but she just gave him a look of chilling hatred and turned away. Stefan put his arm around her and walked her out, throwing Damon a glance over his shoulder as he left.

He was specifically banned from Matt's funeral. He was told this by way of Stefan.

Damon was getting sick and tired of being avoided. So he got up in Elena's window and waited for her to come home and yell at him.

When she walked in, she was flanked by Caroline, Bonnie and Jeremy.

"What are you doing here?" Caroline asked, repulsed by the sight of him.

"I think it's time we had this out," Damon said, addressing Elena. "I don't mind being yelled at, but I do mind being ignored."

"Can't you at least give her a few days?" Caroline snapped, but Elena took control.

"He's right. It's probably better that we get this over with," she said, giving him a hard stare.

When they were alone (or as alone as they were going to get with Caroline's super hearing still in the house) he began.

"I tried as hard as I could to save both of you. You know that Elena!"

"That wasn't what I wanted," she told him, arms crossed firmly across her chest.

"I had vampire blood in my system, Damon. Meredith gave it to me when Jeremy brought me into the hospital," she revealed, and Damon's face fell. Shit.

"I would have come back. Now he won't. He's dead. Permanently," she said, her eyes still red-rimmed from crying.

"How the hell could I have known that you had vampire blood in your system?" Damon exploded, angry that he was being blamed for that.

"You couldn't have. You just had to trust me."

"You would have done the same thing vampire blood or not. I can't trust you to respect your own life because you've proven in the past that you will try to get yourself killed for any reason at all!" he snapped.

"You know what it feels like to love someone so much that if it came down to you or them, you would want them to live. That's the choice I was making!" she yelled, tired of trying to make him understand something so simple.

"Well, it wasn't in your hands, Elena. I was the one who had to make the decision, not you. And if you think there's any way in hell I would leave you to drown, you're out of your mind."

She shook her head sadly.

"I don't think that, Damon. That's the difference between you and Stefan. He trusts me, he lets me make my own choices. He would have understood this. You don't."

"You mean he would have done whatever you ordered him to do," Damon said bitterly. His brother had always been the good boy, who did whatever their overbearing father wanted whether he liked it or not. Stefan the golden boy.

"That's not how it is, Damon. Stefan would understand that this was more important to me than my own life. He wouldn't just keep me alive for selfish reasons!"

"Selfish? You think me saving you was selfish?" he exclaimed, his eyebrows furrowing deeply.

"You didn't do it for me, Damon. You did it for you. Because you didn't want to lose me," she said softly.

"I never had you, Elena," he reminded her. She had already broken his heart by the time he dove into the water.

"And I knew that if he died I'd lose whatsoever little I did have anyway. You cannot label me selfish for this," he retorted angrily.

Elena just sighed.

"I can't do this, Damon. You have to understand that I will not lose anyone else I love. Even if it means giving up my own life. I need you to respect that."

"Well, I'm not Stefan, Elena. I don't take orders. I will never unthinkingly agree with every dumb idea that flits across your brain. That's not my idea of a partnership. It's a dictatorship and I don't want to live in one," he snapped.

He'd always been the rebel, going against his father at every turn and dropping out of the army. There was nothing Damon hated more than giving up who he was to try to suit someone else's whims.

"I want you to go," she said simply, and her doe eyes were sad, but resolute.

"Well that's one command I will obey, General Elena," he said, giving her a mocking salute. "Consider me gone."

He turned on his heel and walked out. He'd already packed his stuff into his Camaro, and all that remained to do was say goodbye to Stefan and he would be out of Mystic Falls forever.


	3. Curiosity and the Kat

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Vampire Diaries. If I did, Elena would be a lot smarter.

**Author's Note:** A big thank you to dancingirl87, my sole reviewer so far :)

* * *

Damon was halfway to Georgia when his phone rang. The caller ID showed Jeremy Gilbert. Damon was tempted to throw the phone out the window, but something in him just wouldn't let the call go unanswered.

"Mini Gilbert," he greeted sarcastically.

"Hey," Jeremy said. "Listen, I know you probably don't care and all, but I just wanted to say thank you, for saving Elena first."

The words were like a balm on his wounds and he felt something inside him unclench a bit.

"You're welcome," he drawled in his typical arrogant fashion.

"Matt wants to pass on his thanks too," Jeremy continued.

Damon recalled Jeremy's ability to see ghosts, and nodded to himself.

"He says that it's not your fault, and that Elena's out of line, but she'll come around eventually."

There was something almost pleading in Jeremy's tone.

"Well, I won't be there if that ever happens, kid," he said, trying to scotch any hope of him returning to being Elena's whipped little puppy.

"Listen, I'm just trying to look out for my sister. I don't like all this supernatural crap in her life. I hate it. But you and Stefan keep her safe," he said.

Damon tried not to let that affect him.

"Klaus is dead. The Originals have vamoosed. There's nothing much Elena needs protection from anymore. Stefan and Bonnie can handle it."

Jeremy was silent on the other end.

Damon hated himself for what he was about to say next.

"And if anything ever does come up, I'll help out. I promise," he said reluctantly.

On the other end of the phone, Jeremy nodded.

"Okay," he said finally. Damon terminated the call.

* * *

He was in a bar in Atlanta, raising a glass to Ric's memory, when a feminine scent hit his nostrils. He stiffened.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, not even wanting to know the answer.

"Thought you might have missed me," Katherine purred, slinking onto the bar stool next to his.

"Not even a little bit," he muttered, taking a long swig of bourbon.

"Why so far from Elena?" Katherine teased, trying to put her hand on his arm. Damon shook it off violently.

"None of your business. I suggest you get to the point quickly before my patience runs out," he snapped.

Katherine smirked. She did love toying with him.

"A little bird told me that Klaus is dead," she said, tilting her head to look at him.

"Well your little birdie was right. You can go now," Damon said, taking another swig and dismissing her.

Katherine pouted.

"But another little bird told me that killing an Original takes out their entire bloodline too," Katherine mused.

"Again, correct. Now get lost," Damon replied.

"Well, the only problem here is that Klaus is the founder of our bloodline. And you and I are still walking around," Katherine told him, deadly serious now.

Damon narrowed his eyes at her.

"You're sure about that?" he asked.

"Positive. Klaus turned Scary Mary, who turned Rose, who turned me, etc."

A lightbulb went off in his liquor-soaked brain, and Damon closed his eyes and beat his forehead against the bar top. Repeatedly.

"Come on, Damon," Katherine snapped, losing patience herself.

"The witch must have pulled a fast one," he muttered. "She wanted to be alone with his shrivelled corpse for a few minutes, something about lecturing him for all the pain he'd caused."

"And you fell for that?" Katherine said, raising an eyebrow.

He gave her his meanest fake smile.

"I'm a moron. What else is new?" he snapped, and turned back to his drink. "She must have stuffed him into Tyler's body, and he made Caroline believe he died so that they could hide the truth."

"So what do we do now?" Katherine asked.

Damon shook his head, frowning.

"There's nothing we can do, Katherine. We can't kill Klaus, or we kill ourselves. The only thing to do is get a witch to make him into beef jerky again."

Katherine glared at him.

"The Bennett girl isn't up to it," she declared. "Too young and inexperienced."

"So send them one of the witches that you keep on a leash," Damon said snarkily, throwing back another gulp of bourbon.

Katherine got up to leave.

"You know, I also heard that Elena had died. And with her the immortal hunter."

Damon glared at her.

"Right again. Only Elena came back. Human," he said, just desperately wanting her to get lost.

"So why are you in a bar in Atlanta?" she asked.

"Because I've left Mystic Falls for good, and I've always liked Georgia," was his terse reply.

"Elena chose Stefan?" Katherine said with mock sympathy.

"Yes. Now get lost," he said, finishing his bottle of bourbon and standing to leave. He was sick of the very sight of her.

"Never thought I'd see the day when you would give up," Katherine mocked.

"Maybe I'm learning something," Damon shot back as he pushed his way out of the bar.

Katherine watched him go, intrigued. That was not the Damon Salvatore she knew.


	4. Hope is a Bitch

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Vampire Diaries. If I did, Katherine would part of the main cast.

**Author's Note:** Thank you to everyone who reviewed :) This story is going somewhere, I promise!

* * *

Damon's nights on the road were lonely. He drifted from town to town, raided a blood bank or two, got drunk, and slept with whatever attractive young women he met.

It was exactly his life before he had moved to Mystic Falls. Minus the killing.

Damon couldn't get into it, for some reason. He suspected it had to do with those brown doe eyes that watched him all the time no matter how hard he drank.

Elena Gilbert had changed him, chewed him up inside and then spat him out. And now he didn't know what to do with his life without her.

In Mystic Falls there was always something to do. Someone he had to fight, someone he had to save, some stupid party or event he had to attend. All in the name of keeping one girl happy.

Stefan called him every so often, letting him know what was happening with the Klaus situation and the crazy Founders Council members who were making a ruckus. They never mentioned Elena.

Damon sat in another bar, in a town whose name he couldn't remember, and drank yet another bottle of bourbon. He wished Ric was here propping up the other end of the bar. He could really use his old friend to listen to his maudlin drunken ramblings.

But the other end of the bar was being propped up by someone different tonight. A really smokin' hot redhead. Mmm.

It was getting late, and custom was drying up, so Damon figured it was time to make his move.

"Always nice to see a lady who drinks the good stuff," he opened, with his most charming smile, indicating the bottle of bourbon sitting in front of her.

"I'm not interested," she snapped, and Damon was intrigued.

"Rejection. I usually only get that from women I love," he said, taking a sip from his own bottle.

She turned around and looked at him, scanning him all over.

"So you pick up random one night stands to make up for it?" she asked, her cat-green eyes warming up now.

He smiled.

"Booze and girls might not heal a broken heart but they dull the pain," he replied.

She laughed huskily, and Damon liked the sound.

"So, what's your story, vampire?" she asked, patting the seat beside her.

Damon was taken aback as he studied her with new eyes.

He sat down.

"I'm Damon," he said. "And I'm guessing that you are a witch."

She smiled, her first genuine one of the night.

"Well spotted, Damon. I'm Laura."

"Nice to meet you, Laura," he said, and lifted his bottle. She raised hers and they clinked them together before throwing back large sips.

"So, was that all bullshit pickup lines or are you really as broken as you seem?" she asked.

He laughed softly.

"A little of both, probably," he said.

"Well, let's hear it," she demanded, fixing him with her full attention.

"Well, I've fallen in love twice. Both times with girls who are already in love. With my brother."

She laughed, and shook her head.

"Okay. That is pretty tragic," she allowed.

He liked the scent wafting off her gorgeous hair.

"So, why are you here hitting the good bourbon?" he asked.

She sighed.

"I'm in love with two different guys, and I have to choose between them or they're going to kill each other," she said.

"Sounds familiar," Damon said. "From the point of view of the guy who doesn't get chosen, can I just say, please make the break fast. Don't draw it out, or play with him, just stick the knife in and walk away."

"Does that really help?" she asked.

"It still hurts like a bitch. But hope is the worst thing. That's what really gets you," he said. "It's what keeps you hanging on and coming back for more pain over and over and over again."

She nodded.

"What happened with those two girls?" she asked.

"The first, Katherine, I met when my brother and I were still human. She was a vampire, and she messed around with both of us. It's a long story, but I thought she was stuck in a tomb and that I couldn't get her out for 145 years. So I waited," he said.

"Turns out, she was never in there. She was out, roaming the world the whole time. She just didn't care. And when we finally met again, she told me that she never loved me, she had only ever loved my brother."

"Harsh," Laura commented. "And the second?"

"Well, while I was still obsessed with Katherine, I met this other girl, Elena. I was drawn to her from our first meeting, but when I met her again, she was dating my brother. And after Katherine broke my heart, she and I started getting closer."

"Go on," Laura prompted.

"She would never admit to feeling anything for me, because she was with Stefan. But it was there between us all the time, and when Stefan had to leave town for a while, it just grew and grew. But she had to make a choice, and she chose him."

"Can I ask why?"

Damon shrugged.

"He's the better man. He's the heroic, martyr type, you know. She's the same. They're two peas in a pod."

"That doesn't really help," Laura muttered.

"So, why are you stuck?" he asked, intrigued.

She sighed.

"One of them is a werewolf," she said, and Damon raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, I know. Odd combination, right? The other guy is a warlock."

"And?" Damon prompted.

"And one of them I have loved for a long time. Through some really hairy stuff, pardon the pun. And the other just swept me off my feet when I was least expecting it," she murmured.

"That doesn't really help," Damon said, and she sighed.

"No, it doesn't," she agreed.

They both drank their bourbon silently.

"You ran away, didn't you?" she said to him finally.

"Not exactly," he sighed. "She hates me now. Because she and her friend were in a car accident, and I could only save one of them. She wanted me to save her friend, but I saved her."

Laura nodded.

"Stefan would have done what she wanted, and saved the friend. Elena would be dead. That's how she picked. She picked the guy who will always do what she wants. Respect her choices no matter what, you know."

"That's not you, I take it," she said, and he shook his head.

"I will argue with her, compromise with her when she has a point, and call her out when she's being an idiot. I will not obey her."

"And Katherine? Why did she choose Stefan?"

Damon shrugged. "I have no idea. They're polar opposites. You couldn't get two more different people if you tried. She's selfish, manipulative and ruthless, and he's saintly, self-righteous and heroic."

"Maybe that was the attraction," Laura mused.

"Maybe," Damon agreed.

Damon's phone buzzed. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Bonnie. He screwed up his face in pain and pushed 'Ignore'.

He took a long drag of bourbon and fidgeted on his stool.

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Somewhere you have to be?"

"I thought when I left that she was safe. But danger finds her like a magnet. If I don't go back she'll probably die. And if I do, things will get messy again, with her, and with Stefan."

"Now's there's a choice I can help out with, if you're willing," Laura said.

He looked at her warily.

"I don't trust witches. No offence," he said.

She laughed. "None taken. I don't trust vampires either. But I promise I'm not going to turn you into a toad," she said.

"I can put a spell on your heart. To block romantic love only. It won't affect your ability to feel any other kind of love, such as your love for your brother, or your friends, but you will be invulnerable to the sort of love that's making you miserable."

He frowned.

"But if I don't love Elena, then I won't want to save her as badly," he said.

"The spell will not touch your affection for her. You'll still love her as a friend, probably more like a sister. But the romantic love and lust you feel for her will be gone."

Damon thought about that. Being able to protect her, without screwing everything up with her and Stefan. It could be just the solution he was looking for.

"Okay," he said. "Sign me up."


	5. What Becomes Of

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Vampire Diaries. If I did, Original Recipe Alaric would still be alive.

**Author's Note:** Thank you to all my reviewers :) The plot is thickening, so stick around!

* * *

Bonnie's voicemail message told him that the gang were going to try to get Klaus out of Tyler and back into his real body tomorrow night.

So he had a day to get back to Mystic Falls. He had the top down on the Camaro, and was blasting his music loud, grinning from ear to ear.

The persistent ache in his heart that he'd lived with for 145 years was no longer there.

He felt like he could scale tall buildings and walk on water. In a way, it was like being turned all over again.

He was actually looking forward to going home now. Yes, Mystic Falls was 'home' again, for the first time since he was human.

Laura was one awesome lady, he thought. He owed that witch big time, and he'd promised her that if he could do anything to help her, she just had to call and he'd be there.

When he pulled into the driveway of the boarding house, he grabbed his bags out of the car and sauntered in jauntily.

"Stefan!" he called, looking around.

"Hey," Stefan said, bounding down the stairs. He was so cautious, looking at Damon warily, but Damon just beamed and swept him into a hug. Stefan went rigid with shock and Damon laughed.

"Good to see you too, brother," he said, grinning madly.

"You're very chipper," Stefan observed.

"It's good to be home," Damon said.

"So you're going to stay?" Stefan asked gingerly.

"Yep. I'm back," he said happily.

"Well, this is a change in attitude," said Katherine, coming down the stairs.

Damon raised his eyebrows at his brother, who shrugged.

"She just got here," he muttered.

"You do know that Klaus is out there, running around Mystic Falls right now, don't you?" Damon asked her, bemused.

Katherine rolled her eyes.

"Yes. But he doesn't know I'm here and he has bigger things to worry about right now. I'm just here to make sure that our plan works. He won't go down without a fight," she explained.

"So, what is the plan?" Damon asked.

"The witches are going to stick him back in his old body. But to do that, they have to restore his old body first."

"De-jerkify," Damon said.

"Yes. And that's where the tricky part is."

"Because as soon as he's in his old, restored body, he's going to kill us all."

"Yeah," Katherine said.

"I assume the witches have a plan for this?"

"Yeah, we do," Bonnie said, coming in behind him with Abby and Lucy Bennett and a few other women Damon had never met. More witches.

"As soon as we put him into his old body, we need to do the spell to desiccate him again. But he won't go quietly," Bonnie said.

"You do realise that he's going to have some plan of his own cooked up? Probably his own witches as well?" Damon said.

"Yeah. That's the tricky part," Bonnie admitted.

"Are Rebekah and Elijah still around?"

"Yeah. I've been trying to talk to both of them, see if they know anything. But Klaus wouldn't tell Elijah anything and if Rebekah does know something she won't share it," Stefan told him, obviously frustrated.

"Well, looks like now is a good time to catch up with Barbie Klaus," Damon said cheerfully.

"What is with him?" Katherine asked Stefan after he had left the room.

"I have no idea," Stefan said, looking after his brother's retreating back.

* * *

"Well, that was a total failure," Katherine groaned as they retreated to the Gilbert house later that night. Klaus was free and on the loose in his own body again.

"What? What happened?" Elena asked, coming into Damon's view for the first time since he'd been home. Nothing. Not a single twinge of pain, of lust or of the crazy consuming love he usually felt for her. This spell was SO awesome.

Damon smiled a hello as Katherine bitched about the witches. Elena looked at him like he'd gone insane.

"Cool down, Katherine. We got him once before, and we can do it again. Just not tonight," he told the furious vampire.

She huffed and poured herself a glass of bourbon, raiding Ric's stash.

"Klaus' hybrids showed up. A whole army of them. He must have used the all the blood he drained from you. There were too many of them, and they got Klaus away before the witches could desiccate him," Stefan told Elena.

"So he's still out there, just running around waiting to drain my sister's blood again?" Jeremy snapped angrily.

"Yeah," Bonnie said quietly, the failure still a massive sore point for her.

"We need to find a way to deal with large numbers of hybrids," Damon announced.

"One bite can kill us, Damon," Katherine snapped.

"Aware of that, Katherine," Damon replied, but with none of his usual bite. "Wolfsbane grenades are one idea, but there were too many even for that."

"I'll look into it, see if there's any magic that can help," Bonnie told him, still looking pretty defeated.

"Hey, witchy, it wasn't your fault," he told her, and Bonnie looked at him as if he'd grown a second head. She waited for the punchline but there wasn't one. He actually seemed to genuinely mean it.

"Thanks, Bonnie," Stefan chimed in, and the others followed, all except Katherine.

Bonnie left feeling slightly better and wondering what the hell had gotten into Damon.


	6. Did You Change Your?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Vampire Diaries. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction now, would I?

**Author's Note:** Here's chapter six, as ordered by S.E. Carrigan :)

* * *

"I feel fine, Damon," Stefan insisted as his brother dragged him through the door of the Gilbert house after an unfortunate encounter with Klaus' hybrids.

"For now," Damon pointed out, and Stefan nodded miserably.

"Stefan!" Elena called, her voice high with worry.

"It's okay," he told her, but she grabbed his arm. "No! It is not okay!" she said, tears in her voice already as she examined the bite.

Damon shrugged on his leather jacket.

"I'm going to see Klaus now," he assured her.

"What? No! You'll get bitten as well!" Elena told him.

"I have to try, Elena," he told her, and she shook her head. "No! There has to be another way!" she said. "Klaus likes Stefan, he doesn't want him dead!"

Damon grimaced.

"Yeah, I think Stefan might have played that card once too often. Klaus is in one of those moods," Damon said, referring to the megalomaniac hybrid's tendency to completely lose it when things didn't go his way.

"You can't go," she said, unwilling to let him walk out the door for the last time again. She had nearly fallen apart when he did it last time, even though it had been at her insistence. She had told Matt once that she just couldn't shake Damon, and it was true.

She could think of Matt without breaking down now. Jeremy had helped facilitate a lot of conversations between them, and the deep soul rending pain she had felt at losing him was easing slowly. He wanted her to forgive Damon.

She didn't know if she was ready to do that, but she definitely wasn't prepared to lose him from her life again.

"Elena," he sighed. "You know how this goes," he said, gesturing to Stefan's bite. Yes, she remembered all too clearly what it was like when he had nearly died in her arms.

"I know there's still time," she said stubbornly. "We need to be patient and figure this out!"

"Elena," he sighed, exasperated.

"Please, Damon!" she begged. "Just wait for a little while. Just see if Klaus cools down or we find another way. Please!"

Damon shook his head in resignation.

"Just for a little while," he said. "But tomorrow, I'm going to go to him before Stef gets any worse."

"Okay," she agreed reluctantly.

Stefan stood there and reflected that while their conversation was about him, it was as if neither of them even noticed he was there anymore.

* * *

Dawn came, and Elena woke up, jostling Stefan awake.

"Stefan!" she cried, grabbing his arm to check the wound.

It wasn't there.

"How do you feel?" Elena asked, her eyes wide.

"I feel fine," he said. "Completely normal."

"Are you sure?" came Damon's voice from the doorway.

"See for yourself," Stefan said, showing Damon his arm.

Damon frowned.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked.

Stefan's brow creased.

"I've been bitten before," he realised. "Klaus bit me and then used his blood to heal me."

Damon frowned.

"So, if you've been bitten and healed once then you're immune to any further bites?" he asked.

The two brothers looked at each other.

"Game back on, brother," Damon said happily.

Elena was a little put out that he hadn't even noticed her state of undress, let alone commented on it.

* * *

"Wait, so I'm immune to werewolf bites now?" Caroline asked as they all gathered in the Gilbert kitchen.

"We all are," Damon said. "Every one of us has been bitten and healed using Klaus' blood. Me, Stefan, Katherine and you. Tyler's a hybrid already so he doesn't have to worry."

"This is so awesome," Caroline squealed, looking at her hybrid boyfriend, who smiled back.

"O-kay," said Damon, wanting to get back on track and not go down the road of what Tyler and Caroline did in the bedroom.

"Immune to werewolf bites," Katherine mused with satisfaction. "We can just go in and mow them down."

"Exactly," Damon smiled.

"Aren't you glad I made you wait now?" Elena asked Damon gloatingly.

He smiled that megawatt smile that made her tummy flip.

"So you got lucky. Once," he said, rolling his eyes.

Elena just smiled happily to herself.

* * *

The day they handed over a desiccated Klaus to Elijah, who promised to never let him see the light of day for a few hundred years, was one of the most satisfying days of their lives.

But Elena had a little unsettled part of her heart that wondered if Damon was going to try to leave now that Klaus was out of their way.

Bonnie and Caroline were making popcorn for their girls night, and as soon as Caroline set the bowl down, she looked straight at Elena.

"Okay, spill," she demanded, and Elena shook her head, confused.

"What's going on with Damon? He's been acting weird ever since he got back to town," Caroline clarified.

"I know," Elena said helplessly. "But I don't know why."

"Are you still avoiding him?" Bonnie asked.

"Yes," Elena admitted. "It's just really awkward, you know. Even though he has been really great about giving me and Stefan space and not coming on to me…"

She frowned.

"He's been treating me like a sister," she realised.

Caroline and Bonnie nodded as they shared the realisation.

"He's been less of a jerk, too," Caroline chipped in.

"But why?" Bonnie asked.

"That's the million dollar question," Katherine said, appearing in the doorway. The girls glared at her for interrupting their night, but Katherine ignored them.

"I saw him when he was out on the road after he left here. He was bitter, depressed and hopeless. Something has drastically changed since then and I've been trying to put my finger on it for weeks," Katherine told them.

"Well, he didn't just get a personality transplant," Caroline remarked.

"It's almost like he did," Katherine mused, thinking about that.


	7. Green Eyed Monster

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Vampire Diaries. Obviously.

**Author's Note:** Here's your update BigTimeGleekBTR :)

* * *

Damon looked up from his glass of bourbon to see Elena, Stefan, Bonnie, Caroline and Katherine standing in front of him with their arms crossed across their chests. He frowned and tilted his head.

"What?" he asked. It looked like they were about to start an intervention.

"What is exactly what," Caroline said, marching over to sit on the couch opposite him.

"Come again?" he asked, not sure that was even English.

"We've all noticed something different about you since you got back to town," Stefan told him. "We want to know what's going on."

Damon looked amused.

"I changed my outlook on life. So what?" he said.

Bonnie stepped forward and Damon got goosebumps as she did something witchy.

"There's a spell on him," she said. "Some sort of magic barrier. I can't get close to it."

"Well, obviously. It's not your spell, witchy," he said.

"What did you do, Damon?" Stefan asked warily.

"Relax, it's nothing to be worried about. Just a little bit of magic that helps our lives run a bit more smoothly," he told his brother.

They all looked at him, refusing to back down.

He rolled his eyes.

"Look, I was at a bar one night and I met this really hot redhead," he started. "Turns out she was a witch who was torn between two lovers, a werewolf and a warlock. Can you imagine?" he asked Stefan, who shrugged, willing his brother to get on with the story.

"So we were bitching about our respective love lives, and she told me she could help me out a little with my situation," he said.

"Help how?" Stefan demanded.

"She put a spell on my heart that makes me immune to romantic love," he said. "It commutes my feelings to platonic affection. It's perfect," he said happily.

"You what?" Elena burst out, shaking her head.

He frowned.

"Elena, this was the perfect solution. I could come back here and help keep you safe without making things weird with you and Stefan. And I feel fantastic. Better than I've felt since…ever," he said.

He stood up, ignoring their shocked faces.

"I know it might take some getting used to, but this really is the best thing that's ever happened to me," he told them as he left the room.

They all looked at each other, completely dumbstruck.

"He's gone insane," said Katherine.

* * *

"Isn't this a good thing?" Caroline asked, and they all stared at her.

"I'm just saying," she said, throwing up her hands.

"Damon is happier, and nicer and he's not mooning over a girl he can never have," she said. "That's got to be good, right?"

"Caroline, he's given up on love. Forever," Elena said, upset. "This isn't just about me - he can't feel that way about anyone, ever."

"He's not quite Damon like this," Katherine mused. "The crazy, passionate, wild side of him is part of who he is."

"You're the one who broke him," Caroline carped, and Katherine glared at her.

"Me? Elena's the one who drove him into some slutty witch's arms to get his heart neutered."

"Ladies," Stefan started, trying to calm things down. He ran a hand through his brown hair and sighed.

"Are you okay with this?" Elena demanded, upset.

"Right now, I don't know what to think," Stefan told her. "On one hand, Damon is happier than I have seen him in a very long time. But I have my reservations about the way he's used magic to get there."

"Can you break the spell, Bonnie?" Elena asked, and Bonnie shook her head.

"No. Only the witch who cast the spell knows how to break it. Without knowing how she did it, I can't break it."

"Then we have to find her," Elena declared, and Caroline and Bonnie exchanged worried glances.

* * *

"Come on," Katherine said, leading them into a dingy bar.

"Are you sure about this?" Bonnie asked Elena, and she nodded, following Katherine resolutely.

Katherine headed straight for the curvy redhead, and Elena's gut tightened with jealousy. The witch did indeed live up to Damon's description.

"Laura?" Katherine said with fake sweetness.

The redhead turned, and fixed them with her green cat's eyes.

"What are you doing with this lot?" she asked Bonnie, ignoring Katherine and Elena.

"Long story," Bonnie said shortly. "Is there somewhere we can talk?"

Laura led them to a private area at the back of the bar.

"So, what are you here for?" she asked.

"We're here because of what you did to Damon," Elena said, and Laura smiled.

She looked between the two identical girls, one human, one vampire.

"Let me guess. Elena and Katherine," she said. "Damon never mentioned that you two look exactly alike," she mused.

She turned to Bonnie and lifted an eyebrow.

"I'm Bonnie, Elena's best friend," she said by way of introduction.

Laura smiled.

"Always happy to meet one of my sisters," she said. She turned to Elena and Katherine.

"We want you to break the spell," Elena demanded.

"And why would that be?" Laura asked, amused.

"Because it's not fair to him, to leave him without love for the rest of his life! That's a terrible thing to do to someone!" Elena said.

Laura smirked.

"Some people would say I did him a favour. Stopped him being jerked around by the likes of you two," she drawled.

"I care about him," Elena said. "And as his friend I think this spell is horrible. If you care about him at all you have to break it."

Laura laughed.

"Oh, so you two are 'friends' now? I thought you hated him?" she observed, smirking.

Elena glared at her.

"Just break the spell, Sabrina," Katherine snapped threateningly.

"Well, you've come a long way for nothing. I can't break that spell even if I wanted to," Laura said, shrugging.

Bonnie frowned.

"Every spell has to have some way of being broken," she said.

"The spell can be broken. Just not by me," Laura told her, her full mouth curving up in a satisfied smile.

"What are you saying?" Katherine hissed.

Bonnie realised exactly what Laura had done.

"True love," she whispered, and Laura nodded.

"The spell breaks when Damon finds his true love. The woman who loves him mind, heart and soul, wholly and unconditionally."

"So, Elena, there is no need to be concerned for him, as a 'friend'," she said, smirking.

"So that means neither of us is his true love," Katherine said, studying the witch.

"Not necessarily," Laura said, regarding her. "I built a grace period into the spell, to give his heart a rest. The spell is unbreakable until that period is over."

"How long?" Katherine snapped.

"Five years," Laura replied.

"Five years!" Elena exclaimed.

Laura shrugged.

"He's a vampire. Five years is nothing to him."

"Reduce it," Katherine snapped.

Laura raised an eyebrow.

"Reduce it to one year, or I will hunt down both of your lovers and kill them," she threatened.

Laura shook her head.

"You know, anyone would think you actually cared about him, Katherine," Laura taunted her. "I thought you were in love with his brother?"

Katherine just bared her fangs at her, and Laura gathered her materials to alter the grace period in the spell.

"One year," she confirmed when she was done. "It was nice meeting you, Bonnie," she said, ignoring Katherine and Elena as she took her leave.


	8. Holding On and Letting Go

**Disclaimer:** I do not own The Vampire Diaries. Obviously.

**Author's Note:** Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! I know it's tough to invest in a story where you aren't sure where it is going, so I appreciate it!

* * *

"One year," Katherine groaned. "Damn witch."

"Why do you even care?" Elena asked her.

"I told you I loved them both," Katherine said haughtily.

"But you love Stefan more," Elena pointed out.

"So do you," Katherine replied, challenging her to deny it.

"It's not about that. I don't like what this spell is doing to him," Elena said.

"Neither do I," Katherine maintained.

There was silence. Bonnie felt awkward and was keeping out of it. Elena and Katherine both clearly had some unresolved issues with the elder Salvatore, but was it really love for either of them? Laura's spell would sort that out, she supposed.

Bonnie was completely in awe of the complicated elegance of the spell, and had desperately wanted to ask Laura a few questions. But there was no time for Bonnie to get magic lessons when a vampire and a doppelganger were fighting over a man neither of them professed to want.

Vampire business, as Grams would have said. Always getting in the way.

* * *

"Killing them is still the most practical solution," Damon singsonged, bored with the whole situation. The Council members who wouldn't live and let live were getting irritating.

"No," Elena said, opposed to the idea of killing innocent people.

"There are too many of them," Katherine sighed, not morally opposed at all.

"We could compel them," Stefan said.

"Again, too many of them, all on vervain," Katherine said.

"We killed Klaus. A bunch of irritating humans shouldn't be such a big deal," Damon said, rolling his eyes.

"Humans can be dangerous Damon. Remember 1864?" Katherine said.

"Vividly," he snapped back.

She liked it whenever he snapped at her. It reminded her of the pre-spell Damon. But it happened less often these days. With the cooling of his feelings, the hard edge of his anger had been blunted.

"Why are you still here, anyway?" Stefan asked her. "Klaus is gone. You're free."

"Not quite," Katherine said, looking at him. She was still hoping to win him over. And of course, she couldn't leave until Damon was back to his old self. Just because.

Stefan got the message and looked away. He was still with her doppelganger, and Katherine had decided she could wait. The girl was human, and in 60 years or so, Katherine would have the Salvatores to herself again.

The only thing to do was to stay here and make sure the girl stayed human. Katherine did not want her turning under any circumstances.

"Besides, I have nothing else to do," Katherine pronounced, and Caroline rolled her eyes.

Damon would usually have jumped in with a snarky comment here, but none was forthcoming. He wasn't even looking at her. Katherine pouted. The sooner this stupid spell was broken, the better.

* * *

Elena arrived home after school, relieved to find the house empty. Stefan and Damon were off trying to deal with the rogue Council members, and Jeremy was at the library, doing a report for the new history teacher.

The familiar pang of grief in her heart sounded at the thought of Alaric. She missed him and his whisky-drinking exploits. He just radiated the solid, dependable air of someone you could count on, no matter how unstable his life seemed to be from the outside.

She's been shocked that Jeremy was doing homework, but having Damon in the house seemed to improve her brother's behaviour no end.

Damon had told him point-blank that he could smell pot smoke on him if it was two days old and second-hand, so he'd better not even think about it.

Jeremy seemed to need that firm hand with regard to discipline, and he was doing better these days.

"Hey," came Damon's voice behind her, and she jumped.

"I thought you and Stefan were going to talk to the Council again," she said, trying to recover.

"Change of plans. He's going to talk to the Council. Something about me being an impediment to the peace talks," Damon said, smirking.

Elena could definitely imagine that. But now he was here, in her kitchen, and they were alone. She still couldn't get used to the 'new' him.

"I'm just going to get dinner started," Damon told her. "You're welcome to join, unless you have homework you'd rather do."

Homework had never sounded so tempting.

"Um, yeah. I do have some. Lots," she said, backing away.

Damon gave her a knowing look, but let her go.

It was just too weird, Elena thought as she slammed her door behind her.

From the first moment they met there had been a simmering physical attraction between them, and a sort of understanding, an emotional level they connected on which had grown deeper and deeper.

Now, she was still attracted to him, but she got nothing back. No answering signal from Damon. The emotional connection was still there, but it had been dialled back to the platonic levels only.

Part of her was telling her that this is what she had wanted. She had chosen Stefan for her love, and Damon for her friend. So she had no reason to complain if Damon acted towards her only as a friend.

But the plain truth was that she hated it. She was trying not to be selfish about this. She had chosen to let Damon go, and she had to abide by that however much it sucked.

She had been shocked when he had left, even though she had told him to go. He had stayed and fought for her even after he'd broken her brother's neck. He had promised to never leave her again.

Stefan had told her about their deal, and she had been upset that Damon would agree to break his promise so readily. He had left her, and it was one of the things she was still deeply mad at him for.

Along with this stupid spell, of course.

In some small, selfish part of her heart she had believed that she could never really lose Damon; that he would always be there no matter what. She had been proven wrong twice now.

A little voice in the back of her mind whispered that this time she might have lost him forever.


	9. Have a Little Faith

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Vampire Diaries. Obviously.

* * *

"We need to lure them somewhere, then lock them up until the vervain passes out of their systems," Stefan said.

"So we need bait," Katherine pointed out.

"What are we going to use for that? What do they want?" Caroline asked.

"The same thing everyone wants," Damon chimed in. "Elena."

Stefan's brow creased.

"Why would they want me?" Elena asked him, not understanding.

"Are you kidding me? The chance to get a Founder's daughter away from the vampires she's hanging out with and 'restore' her to the usual vamp-hating ways? Of course they want you," Damon said.

"Perfect," Katherine said.

"I wouldn't speak so, soon, Katherine," Damon said, giving her a look.

She sighed. "You want me to pretend to be Elena, don't you," she said. It wasn't a question.

"Wait a minute," Stefan said. "How does this work, exactly?"

"You tell them to gather a place of their choosing, and you'll hand Elena over to them as a sign of good faith. Then we figure out how to booby trap the place so they can't get out."

"They're smarter than that, Damon," Stefan said.

"They think they're smarter than that," Damon said. "They're a bunch of morons who didn't even know that daylight rings existed until Ric spilled the beans."

"Well they know now, and we shouldn't underestimate them," Stefan said.

"Oh, we'll be ready, brother. Just make the deal and we'll take it from there."

"What if some of them can resist compulsion, like my Dad?" Caroline asked.

Katherine just looked at her.

"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it, shall we?" Damon said, trying to defuse that potential bomb.

* * *

"I still say we should have compelled them to forget they ever knew about the existence of vampires," Katherine insisted.

"That's too hard, Katherine. Especially if any of them were training themselves to resist compulsion. Sticking to one short time period is a lot easier," Damon replied.

"Whatever. I am going to be so glad when this year is over. I miss the old you," she told him.

Damon rolled his eyes.

"The spell won't break unless I find my true love, Katherine. The 'old me' might never return."

Katherine hated the very thought of that.

"Don't sound so happy about it," she lectured him.

He grinned widely.

"Oh, come on. There was nothing great about being an idiot who fell for two different women who didn't want me and hanging on pathetically even though I got knocked down time after time."

"Love is one of the things that makes you human, Damon. Even if you're a vampire," Katherine told him seriously.

"I know," he sighed. "But in my case I think you could argue medical necessity. I was a danger to myself and others," he said with a smile.

"Eternity is a pretty cold and harsh thing to face without love," she told him, and he raised his eyebrows.

"What kept me fighting at every turn was the need for revenge on Klaus for what he did to my family," she said. "That was one form of love. And then I met your brother, and that was my other form of love. Hope that when I finally got rid of Klaus there was something better waiting for me."

Damon smiled.

"Well, you probably couldn't have chosen a worse match for yourself, Katherine. He doesn't love you. He never did," he said gently.

"He told himself it was all compulsion, no doubt," she said. "But I never compelled him to love me."

"No, you just compelled him to forget all the reasons why he wouldn't love you," Damon pointed out.

"Touche," Katherine said, pouting.

"Besides, if he was your one true love, why did you even mess around with me in the first place?" he asked, amused.

"I liked you," Katherine told him. "We had fun together, didn't we?"

"For a while," Damon agreed. "But if you really loved him, you shouldn't have been looking for fun with someone else."

"I had never fallen in love before, Damon," Katherine told him. "Forgive me if I didn't know what I was doing. I never intended to fall for him. I was only in Mystic Falls to get the moonstone from George Lockwood and I was just sampling the local cuisine on the side. But then things just happened and then it was too late."

He smiled.

"Well, I hope you understand that Stefan has made a different choice," he said, a warning note in his voice. Katherine rolled her eyes.

"She wants to stay human. I have the rest of eternity. I'm not worried," she told him.

He shook his head.

"You know, the only consolation when I realised how badly you played me was that you are in the exact same situation that I was, pining after someone who will never love you back," Damon told her.

"We'll see," Katherine said, and Damon laughed.

Katherine would never change. If ever there was a girl who believed that the impossible would simply take a little longer, it was her.

"You do realise that killing Klaus was a cakewalk compared to you trying to conquer Stefan's heart?" he asked, shaking his head.

"I've got time," she told him simply.

"You're gonna need it," he replied, and she pouted.

"Am I really that unlovable?" she asked. "You loved me once."

He sighed.

"No one who truly knows you could ever trust you enough to love you, Katherine," he told her.

She gave him one last look before she left.

"In 500 years the one person who came closest was you."


	10. A Change in the Weather

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Vampire Diaries. Obviously.

**Author's Note:** Thank you for all the reviews :) This chapter is a bit short, but quite important! Read on…

* * *

Elena laughed and rolled her eyes at Caroline and Tyler, who were dancing drunkenly at the traditional annual party out in the woods for Mystic Falls High students.

She was feeling better than she had in a long time. The Council had been compelled, Klaus was gone, and everything was as normal as it could possibly be.

Except for one thing. Damon.

She and Stefan were sort of fighting about how hung up on it she was.

"He's your brother! Surely you care that he's done this to himself?" she had yelled at her boyfriend the previous day.

"He can make his own decisions, Elena," Stefan told her, and she had stormed out.

There were times when Stefan's permissiveness was annoying. She frowned. She couldn't really complain given that was why she chose him in the first place.

He respected her choices, and trusted that she had good reasons behind them. But Damon's decision was so clearly insane that she was frustrated at why he refused to see that.

Damon had laughed when she tried to broach the subject with him.

"_Elena, there's nothing you or Stefan can do. The spell is absolute. Why would he be running around hounding me about it?"_

"_I just can't understand why you would do this, Damon!" she said._

_He raised an eyebrow at her._

"_You know why, Elena," he told her._

_She did, but she didn't want to think about that._

"_I didn't want you to neuter yourself because of me," she told him softly, using Katherine's term._

"_Well, you can't always control what other people do," he told her, looking at her pointedly._

_Elena glared at him._

"_This is about Wickery Bridge, isn't it? You're lashing out to hurt me," she accused him._

_He shook his head._

"_Elena, I do not want to hurt you. This is something I did specifically so that you wouldn't get hurt. So that you would live, and be happy with Stefan."_

_She turned away from him._

"_Why don't you admit what you're really mad at me about?" he said, and she stopped._

"_You know why I'm mad at you."_

"_No, I can feel that there's something else under all of this, but you won't say it out loud," he replied._

_She swivelled around to face him._

"_You left me," she said, realising how pathetic that sounded as soon as the words left her mouth._

"_You ordered me to go," he pointed out._

"_I know," she said snippily. "But I didn't expect you to actually go," she admitted._

_He smiled, and that made her even madder._

"_You mean you were counting on my whipped, pathetic side to keep me in town even after you stomped all over my heart and cut me out of your life."_

"_You promised," she whispered, feeling selfish._

"_I know," he said gently. "I was only trying to do what's best for you. You know that."_

"_Well, stop trying to decide what's best for me," she snapped childishly. "I can decide that for myself."_

"_You did, Elena," he reminded her._

Elena took another sip of her beer. She wasn't really in the mood for this party, and she got up to throw the cup half-full of beer into the bin.

She wandered off towards the edge of the woods, feeling like some quiet space amongst all the noise of the party.

When she was grabbed from behind, she didn't even have time to scream before she was knocked unconscious.

* * *

"Hello, Elena," drawled the blonde with the British accent as Elena woke up. She was in the underground caves again with Rebekah.

"What are you doing?" Elena asked her, her eyes as wide as saucers.

"We have some unfinished business, you and I," Rebekah hissed. "I still haven't paid you back, you little doppelganger bitch, for what you did to me and my brother."

Elena was terrified now.

"Does Elijah know you're here?" she asked.

Rebekah tilted her head.

"No," she said. "But don't think that my brother's morals are going to stop me, Elena. Haven't you learned by now that family means more to him than anything? He won't disown me for killing you," she said coldly, and Elena knew it was the truth.

"Is that what you're going to do? Kill me?" she said. "I thought you wanted to torture me, draw it out," she said.

"That was what we agreed," Rebekah said, referring to their last visit down here. "I've been plotting you know, thinking about the worst way to make you suffer. And I think I've found the perfect solution," Rebekah purred, stalking towards her.

"Stefan and Damon will come after you for this," Elena warned. "They still have the white oak stake."

Rebekah smiled triumphantly.

"Oh, but Elena, I have the perfect way to ensure that your boyfriends will never kill me," Rebekah said, and Elena realised what she was going to do.

Rebekah held her bleeding wrist against Elena's mouth for several moments before she snapped her neck.


	11. Into My Bloodstream

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Vampire Diaries. Obviously.

* * *

"Why the hell weren't you at the party with her?" she heard Damon yelling when she woke up.

"I didn't know she was going! We had an argument and she wasn't speaking to me!" Stefan yelled back.

"This was your watch, Stefan!" Damon flung back, frustration evident in his voice.

"You think I don't know that?" Stefan accused, and they both fell silent.

She opened her eyes to find herself in her bedroom, lying on her bed.

"Hey," Stefan said, coming to her side and taking her hand. She looked at Damon, calling him to her. She wanted him there with her too. He came to her other side and sat.

"Am I a vampire?" she asked. Her throat felt tight and sore, and she wasn't sure what Rebekah had done while she was out.

Stefan shook his head.

"No. You're in transition," he murmured, and a tear leaked down her face before she could stop it.

Rebekah had chosen well with her revenge plan.

"How do you feel?" Damon asked, concerned.

"Bad," she said, and he nodded.

"You have a decision to make," he told her, and another tear followed the first down her face and dripped onto the pillow.

"How long do I have?" she asked him.

"I'd say about 8 hours, maximum," he told her, fighting back tears himself.

"Is there anything you want?" Stefan asked her, and she shook her head. There were plenty of things she wanted. And she couldn't have any of them.

"Caroline and Bonnie are here to see you," he told her. "Jeremy too."

Elena shook her head.

"Not yet," she instructed, and they both nodded.

"Damon?" she asked. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Stefan nodded, and got up to leave the room. She looked at him, and was stunned by the sadness in his blue eyes.

"Why are you so sad?" she asked him. "I thought this is what you wanted?"

He shook his head in disbelief.

"No, Elena, this is not what I wanted," he told her.

"You tried to force me to become a vampire before," she said.

He looked at her.

"That wasn't a choice between Human Elena and Vampire Elena. It was a choice between Vampire Elena and no Elena. And it was wrong. I didn't understand then just how much you hate the idea of turning," he explained.

"You compelled me," she said, and he had the good grace to look embarrassed.

"I did meet you first," she said, remembering their first conversation.

"Yeah, you did," he said, his lips twisting in an ironic smile.

"And you returned my necklace," she said. He nodded.

Neither of them wanted to discuss that incident.

"Did you compel me to forget anything else?" she demanded.

"No," he said. "You would have remembered by now if I had."

She glared at him.

"I know, I know," he sighed, throwing up his hands. "Free will, choice, respect, etc."

She was incredibly pissed that he had stolen those moment from her. The first time they met and the first time he told her he loved her.

She really didn't want to think about the last one. It did something to her insides, seeing the tears in his eyes as he told her he was giving her up to his brother because he didn't deserve her.

She changed the subject.

"Stefan and I have talked about what it's like, becoming a vampire," she said. "But you and I never have."

He looked over at her.

"You've been around us how long? You know everything already," he said.

She looked at him, and he sighed.

"Becoming a vampire is becoming a monster," he stated baldly, and Elena gasped in shock.

"Don't look so surprised. You know it's true. That's why you don't want to be one of us," Damon told her.

She nodded slowly.

"I just never expected you to feel that way," she said.

He laughed.

"I decided to become a vampire because I loved Katherine," he said. "The idea didn't have any intrinsic appeal to me. Katherine took me hunting with her so that I could see what I was signing up for."

"Killing people?" Elena asked, wide-eyed.

He nodded.

"Yeah. It wasn't so shocking. I had been a soldier, and I had already seen and done a lot of things I wished I hadn't," he told her.

"When you're a vampire, you change," he said. "Your human emotions intensify, but your new vampire instincts are just as strong. The ones that want blood all the time. That love the hunt, the kill, and the feed."

She looked away, and he frowned.

"You can't ignore that, Elena. That's what you will be if you decide to complete the transition."

She turned back to him.

"I'm scared," she told him, and he nodded.

"I don't understand how it works. How someone like Stefan can become a ripper, and how Caroline could become better than she was before. How does it all get decided?"

Damon shrugged.

"I'm not an expert," he said. "But in my opinion, control is the main thing. If you have self-control you can master it. If not, then it masters you."

"Stefan didn't have any. He was a young boy who had lived entirely under our father's thumb getting his first taste of freedom. Caroline is a neurotic control freak. It's no surprise that she took to it well."

She frowned.

"What about you?" she asked, and he grinned.

"You think I have no self-control?" he said, and she smiled despite herself.

"I was no poster boy for discipline, but I did have something Stefan didn't. A purpose," he said. "My entire being was focused on getting Katherine back. That was more important than blood lust."

Elena looked at him worriedly.

"Do you think I will be able to do it?" she asked.

He nodded. "Elena, if you complete the transition then it will be because of Jeremy. Because you don't want to leave him alone. That's your purpose. It'll give you the strength to fight back."

"What if I become a ripper?" she whispered.

"Then Stefan and I will tie you down, lock you up and force you to get it under control," he said with a grin. She rolled her eyes.

"If I decide not to transition, will you accept that?" she asked him.

He looked pained.

"No. I will be incredibly pissed at you for all of eternity," he told her.

"But will you try to force me?" she pressed.

He sighed.

"No. I won't force you. If your revulsion at being a vampire is so strong that you would choose to abandon Jeremy, then me forcing blood down your throat wouldn't change anything," he said.

"Is this the real you speaking, or the muzzled you?" Elena asked.

He smirked.

"Would you rather I was yelling at you to drink the goddamn blood already?" he said with a smile.

"I would be yelling at you about choice and not trying to make my decisions for me," she said, smiling back.

"And Stefan would be holding me back from shoving blood down your throat and telling me to back off," he added.

"I kinda miss that," she told him.

"Really?" he said, surprised.

"Just a little bit," she said, and he laughed. She did too, but it hurt.

He frowned with concern, and she assured him she was fine.

"Can you send Caroline and Bonnie in please?" she asked, and he nodded and went to get them.


	12. Eternity

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Vampire Diaries. Obviously.

**Author's Note:** Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I promise this chapter is not the last one! Read on…

* * *

There was one thing Elena hadn't counted on when she decided to complete the transition.

Katherine.

Her identical copy had been livid when she found out, and after failing to kill Elena, she had stolen the white oak stake and gone off in search of Rebekah, determined to kill the Original to get rid of the competition.

Damon had gone after her, leaving Stefan in charge of Elena's care.

Elena was too worried about Damon to pay much attention to her lessons.

Becoming a vampire had heightened her emotions, and she was still having a hard time adjusting to the intensity of it all.

"Elena, this is important. You need to focus," Stefan told her, frustration written all over him.

"I know it's important. But I can't focus on this when Katherine is going to kill Damon!" she said.

"She won't," Stefan tried to soothe.

"Yes, she will!" Elena insisted. "You know she will. She loves you, and she was willing to let him die before to get out of the tomb!"

"She was willing to let him die, not kill him herself," Stefan said. "She won't kill him, she'll just knock him out. He's not strong enough to be a threat to her."

"I wish he hadn't gone," she said, twisting her new daylight ring.

"I know," Stefan told her, and it just irritated her even more.

She had tried to stop him going, but he wouldn't have it. Stefan had held her back when she was ready to physically fight him in order to hold him in Mystic Falls.

Elena had already decided that if Damon didn't return by nightfall, she was going to run away and find him herself.

* * *

Damon had called Rebekah and given her a heads up that Katherine was after her. She had laughed.

"Don't underestimate her, Rebekah," he warned. "She stole the white oak stake, and she managed to evade Klaus for 500 years."

Rebekah pouted.

"She's still 500 years my junior, Damon."

"Yeah, but she's every bit as cunning and ruthless as your brother. She learned from the best," Damon told her, and Rebekah hung up on him.

He had no idea where Katherine was. She wouldn't answer his calls. Bonnie was trying a tracking spell, and he had to hope that she would find something soon or Elena would die.

Rebekah was no Klaus, and Katherine was more than a match for the blonde when it came to scheming.

* * *

Bonnie tracked Katherine to a huge Southern mansion, where Elijah, Rebekah and Kol were hiding out.

"Katherine!" Damon yelled, catching sight of her sneaking around the grounds. She snarled at him.

"You can't stop me, Damon," she said. "You know that. So back off before you get hurt."

"This is suicide, Katherine," he implored, trying to get her to see reason.

"Eternity means nothing without love, Damon," she reminded him.

"Yeah, and to have real love, that person has to choose you. If you have to compete with someone else, and your only hope is to be consolation prize if they're unavailable, it's not real Katherine. I learned that one the hard way."

She shook her head.

"I'm doing this, Damon," she said, preparing to stop him physically.

"Damon!" Elena called, and he turned to see her rushing towards him.

"Elena, what the hell?" he said as she vamp sped to him. "You shouldn't be here!"

Katherine snarled, and Damon pushed Elena behind him. Katherine lunged, and Damon threw himself at her, wrestling with her fruitlessly. She was more than twice as strong as him and he had no chance.

"Elena, run!" Damon yelled at her. "Get Elijah!" he told her, and that finally got her moving.

She streaked away and Katherine followed. He staggered to his feet and went after them.

Katherine had caught Elena, and Damon rushed her, knocking her off her feet. She recovered instantly, and he threw himself between her and Elena. They were almost to the house.

"Elijah!" called Elena desperately. Katherine glared at Damon.

"You know you can't stop me, Damon. Your brother and the witch aren't here now," Katherine taunted.

"Stefan will never forgive you if you kill her," Damon pleaded.

"We'll see," Katherine said. "In a thousand years he might not even remember her name."

She dove at him again, and he was a split second away from having his neck snapped when Katherine was shoved off him violently.

He sat up and saw Rebekah, Elijah and Kol.

Katherine's hand closed around the white oak stake firmly.

"Oh, don't even think about it," Rebekah snapped. "You have no chance three against one and you know it."

Katherine glared at her.

"This serves no purpose," Elijah said. "I suggest all of you return to Mystic Falls."

"Great idea," Damon said, fully prepared to back that.

Katherine tried to dash off with the white oak stake, and Damon rushed after her, followed by Elena.

If Katherine kept that stake she could try again at any time for a thousand years or more.

"Katherine!" Damon yelled, and he lunged for her. She easily threw him to the ground and held the white oak stake over his heart.

"No!" Elena screamed, and threw herself at Katherine. Katherine had her pinned in an instant, and the stake was now over her heart, hurtling home.

"Elena!" Damon headbutted Katherine with all his strength, throwing her away from Elena. She struck out instinctively with the white oak stake, and he groaned with pain as it caught him straight through the heart.

Elena stared with horror as his skin turned grey and she threw herself on top of him, weeping.

Elijah had to drag her off him, while Kol restrained Katherine and took the stake from her.

Elena was senseless as to everything that was going on around her.

Damon was really gone this time. Forever.


	13. Make My Heart a Better Place

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Vampire Diaries. Obviously.

**Author's Note:** Yes, I killed Damon. I feel guilty already! But will he stay dead? Read on…

* * *

Elena was incoherent, and nothing could calm her down. Did vampire emotions always feel like this? She felt like she was going to die every time she thought about Damon's cold grey skin, and that horrible stake sticking out of his heart.

Elijah had returned her to Mystic Falls, to Stefan, but she didn't feel better at all when she saw him. Damon was dead and nothing else mattered right now.

"Elena," Stefan said gently, and took her hand. She closed her eyes to try to block him out.

"I'm sorry," he said, and she realised how selfish she was being. Damon was his brother.

She turned to him, and he wrapped her in a hug.

"It's okay," he told her. "I understand."

She pulled back and stared at him.

He smiled wryly.

"I've spent two and a half years watching you two fall for each other," he told her. "I'm sorry it ended this way."

"Stefan," she said, shaking her head.

"No," he told her. "Don't deny it, Elena. The time for fighting yourself is over now."

"I love you," she insisted.

He nodded.

"I know. And we will always be friends, Elena. Family."

"No, Stefan…you saved me. You brought me back to life when I didn't want to live anymore. You should love the person who makes you glad you're alive," she said, whispering the words she had spoken to Matt.

"Love doesn't care about 'should'," he said simply.

She burst into tears again, and he hugged her, sharing their grief.

Bonnie burst in, followed by Laura.

"What are you doing here?" Elena snapped, angry at the sight of the witch who had robbed her of precious time with Damon.

"Elena, he might not be dead," Bonnie told her, and Elena frowned.

"My spell acts like a barrier," Laura said. "It's like an impenetrable layer around his heart."

Elena shook her head.

"Look at him!" she yelled. "The stake went through his heart!"

"Just let Laura look at him," Bonnie soothed, and Elena reluctantly stepped out of her way.

The redheaded witch knelt over Damon's body, and chanted a few words, holding her hands over his heart.

"What's going on Bonnie?" Elena asked. "He got staked. How could be alive?"

"Because the stake Katherine used isn't just a normal wooden stake, Elena. It's wrapped in the magic Esther used to make it indestructible. Laura's magic makes Damon's heart impenetrable. When the magics collide it's like two magnets that repel each other."

Elena's eyes searched Bonnie's, still not quite believing this could be real.

Laura looked up.

"The spell will stop his heart from healing over," Laura said. "It needs to break before he can be revived."

"What?" Elena said. "But…"

"The year will be up in two weeks. After that, it's all up to you," she told Elena.


	14. I'll Be

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Vampire Diaries. Obviously.

**Author's Note:** This is the last chapter, guys. Thank you to everyone who read, and a special thank you to everyone who reviewed. On the subject of pairings, those familiar with my work know I've had a rocky relationship with Delena over the course of this show. All your frustrations with how Elena treats Damon, believe me, I know. But read the final chapter before you judge, people!

* * *

Elena was going out of her mind. When she was human and frustrated, she would go for a run or beat up her punching bag. Now she had super speed and strength and it was kind of pointless.

She had even tried some of Ric's bourbon to ease her frustration. All it did was remind her of Damon, and open up the hole in her heart that matched the hole in his.

She had spent so long trying to convince herself that she didn't love him, that it was Stefan and Stefan alone.

But now if she didn't love Damon he would stay dead. Forever.

* * *

"Hey," Jeremy said as he came home. He noticed the near-empty bottle of bourbon in front of her, and sighed.

"Elena," he said. "You need to stop doing this to yourself."

"I know, Jer," she said, giving him a reassuring smile.

He shook his head.

"Stop trying to pretend everything is okay. You don't have to do that all the time. The world isn't going to end if you tell the truth."

She looked stricken.

"Jer-"

"You do it all the time, Elena. You don't want to hurt anyone. You want to make everything okay for everybody. You never think about yourself."

She shook her head violently.

"Stefan is like that too. It's Damon who challenges you," he said. "When we were on the road back from Denver, Rose told me that he's the one who makes you question your life. And that he's either the best thing or the worst thing for you."

"Are you trying to tell me to choose Damon?" she asked incredulously.

"You can't choose, Elena. That's the thing about this spell. You can't lie to yourself or choose what you think you should pick. It will tell you what's in your heart and then you just have to deal with it."

He left her to her bourbon and her thoughts.

* * *

Elena had never been so nervous as she headed over to the Salvatore boarding house. In an hour, the grace period would expire, and the spell around Damon's heart would be breakable.

Bonnie and Laura were setting up herbs and charms to allow them to track the progress of the spell, and everyone was gathered around to support Elena.

She didn't want to go in there. She didn't want to see him like that, grey and cold and dead. If she didn't see that then it wasn't real. He wasn't dead, just away somewhere, and he could walk back in at any moment and flash her his signature cocky grin.

She imagined what he would say if he were here.

"All this fuss over little old me?" he would drawl, doing his eye thing.

She would roll her eyes, and he would smirk.

She took a deep breath and opened the door, walking through.

Caroline came up and hugged her. Elena shut her eyes into the hug so that she didn't have to look at him lying there on the floor in the circle of candles.

Stefan came over and took her hand, and she let him lead her to the sofa to sit down.

Bonnie and Laura held hands and began chanting, and the candle flames shot up.

Laura turned to her.

"The grace period has expired," she said, and Elena felt like she couldn't breathe.

"You can do this, Elena," Jeremy said, and she mustered every ounce of strength in her to turn and look at Damon.

A tear fell down her cheek without her even realising.

She had lost so many people. Her parents, Jenna, Alaric, Matt. Isobel and John. And the idea of Damon joining them permanently in death nearly broke her.

She didn't want to lose anyone else that she loved.

And she did love him. But this was different. She remembered Laura's words. "Mind, heart and soul, wholly and unconditionally."

She stepped into the circle of candles and looked at him, his dark hair falling about his face, his eyes closed. He didn't look like he was asleep, or peaceful. He looked as if he was waiting for something.

She reached out tentatively, and touched him, her fingers brushing icy cold skin. Tears overflowed before she could stop them and her shoulders heaved.

"It's okay, Elena," Stefan said gently, and she shook her head, her emotions getting the better of her. She just sat by his side and sobbed.

Jeremy frowned.

"He's here," he said, focusing on an empty space beside Stefan.

Elena's head shot up. Damon had never appeared to Jeremy since his 'death'.

"He wants me to tell you that it's okay. He'll always be here even if you can't see him."

"Damon?" she said, her eyes going over to where Jeremy was looking.

"He says he'll keep his promise."

Elena shook her head.

"I want him here with me for real. Not as a ghost. I want him to wake up," she said, Petrova fire waking up behind the tears.

"Well, tell him that," Jeremy said, shrugging.

Elena knelt beside Damon's body, and she pressed her palms against his chest.

"You were right," she told him. "About what I wanted. And I found it. I want you, Damon," she told him.

"I love you," she whispered, and a tear slipped from her face into the wound in his heart.

The candles flared up, and Bonnie and Laura held hands as the energy surged through them.

Elena's tears stopped as Damon's skin began to turn a chalky white, and then a flushed, healthy pink. The horrible wound in his chest closed over, and his eyes fluttered open.

"Damon!" she cried, launching herself at him. Laura stepped away and Elena snuggled up against him, his arm snaking itself around her waist.

"Hey," he said hoarsely.

"How do you feel?" she asked worriedly. Would he be miserable now that the spell was broken?

He gave her a look filled with so much love it took her breath away.

"Never better," he whispered, reaching out to brush a strand of hair away from her face.

"I love you," she told him again, needing to know that he had heard it.

"I know," he said, a smile in his voice, and she hit him playfully.

"How do you feel?" he asked her seriously.

"Best I've ever felt," she whispered happily.

**The End.**


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